Is it right to increase the age of marriage of women to 21?

In the recent session of Parliament, the government introduced the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, to raise the age of marriage for women from 18 years to 21 years. After Opposition MPs demanded greater scrutiny of the Bill, it was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports. The government says the proposed law will ensure equal chance for women in higher education and access to jobs and help improve maternal mortality rate and nutrition levels.

Here we discuss whether the Bill is welcome.

Guests: Safia Niaz , co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan; Mary E. John , former Professor and Acting Director at the Centre for Women’s Development Studies

Host: Jagriti Chandra

Read the Parley article here .